Drew’s ISPO Spring 2012
Quantitative goal,
#1 Conceptual
Emotion
My image is in my minds eye, drawn from observing life and memory.
I am 68 years old and served in the Army during the Vietnam war but that is just a small part of my life experiences
Technical
I draw in charcoal, Graphite stick, Pencil and brush.
Expressive experimentation
My subjects are depicting the life that is written on peoples faces: sorrow, loss, weariness, dissolution, fear, stress. Capturing the gesture of there emotions.
Qualitative Goals:
#1
ISPO Goals 1- 4 Weeks
Faces, figure gesture on paper I have competed 4 lager drawings
4 x 5 up to 25 x 38 or bigger
On Newsprint and 80lb Strathmore off white acid free paper
I will produce 7 drawing all on paper, including preliminary drawings
#2
I will be producing a line of images of people engages in physical labor; farming, construction, ditch digging.
These will be drawings and a variety of prints.
I have 5 large drawing near completion and one new one in the works.
I have 5 large drawing near completion and one new one in the works.
#3
Complete (Paintings) 4 The work on these has moved along, I will be moving to more line on these paintings
Yellow man Peeling the onion, Finished today 15 Feb, happy with it
Red man Am very close to finishing. 15 Feb
Brown man
4 Heads
I have prepped 2 small canvases and one large will under paint next week.
I have gessoed a large paper that I will draw and paint on
I have prepped 2 small canvases and one large will under paint next week.
I have gessoed a large paper that I will draw and paint on
Short-Term studio research objectives:
I am now reading books on
Leon Golub, Echoes of the Real
Gustav Klimt, Klimt drawings 1901-1910
David Hockney. Line Portraits
Semester Goals:
Complete series of large drawing
Complete series of large drawing
Long-term production goals:
15 Feb. The print work is moving in an interesting direction, more aqua-tint and fine line work it is blending in nicely with the drawings and the paintings , starting to look like the beginning to a body of work!
15 Large drawings and 4 paintings
plus the drawings in my print work carrying my theme of emotion and work and our blindness to what evil there is in the world. 15 Feb. The print work is moving in an interesting direction, more aqua-tint and fine line work it is blending in nicely with the drawings and the paintings , starting to look like the beginning to a body of work!
Long-term research and Support
David Hockney and Tansney's work. More reading on Mofernism and Danto's views on the B word Beauty!
Good day today, finished 4 large drawings, used a few different styles drawing in charcoal.
Amazing how we all have our blind spots we are so bombarded by so many images, sounds and smells that it all turns to mush at times, a neutral gray, a flat line, one has to wonder how much we miss of life.
Drew
Started reworkin two of my large drawings, also worked up two small ideas for drawings on self imposed imprisonment, a strange habit we humans do,.
I am learing much from the small group crits, It is enlightening to get the personal motivations and emotions from each artist.
I need to say WHY more,
Sometimes I feel that the pure motivation to create is being hammered by those who demand some deeper philosophical reasoning for creating, is not the pure joy enough, or the fun, or the poking fun at the clowns in
power.!
27 Feb
Working one large painting and 2 smaller ones today, Paint and charcoal on paper interesting to work that way.
Keeping the boarders open working inside the box, containing my subjects, holding them at bay.
as we are trapped inside our thoughts, tiring to communicate with the outside world.
A world looking more and more like the tower of Babble. Static with no meaning or reality.
Worked charcoal drawing into a painted canvas today, not happy with the results, the material was mushy and soft,
Last week in Feb, worked on large painting, seems no one likes that direction but then trying new things is not always acceptable. I can't listen to all the voices out there, no one can.
I started charcoal drawing on a painted surface (paper) will see how that goes.
The 4 head painting I will continue to work on, there is always more under the surface, always.
Print lab is taking more time and I am still behind I am not alone.
I will start 2 new paintings this coming week ( 5 March)
I plan also to continue working on the large one, there IS something there, I will dig it out.
Watching Amy and Kristen go through this past week does not make working on ones thesis a learning exercise but rather a form of ... well I better not say. I better start mine now
I will spend spring break catching up.
24 March 2012
Painting on small canvases, heads ,
OK yesterday I cut up the large blue head, it seemed to be hated by all, I don't think they really see it, I loved it so you might say I killed something I loved because others hated it, that does not show much courage on my part, what the hell does everybody want and should I care?
I will leave the image on my blog site, just to remind me I gave up on it.
I celebrate the differences in all our work, like points on a compass no mater what course you take it will take you somewhere, you can and will change course when you see the need to.
Drew ,over and out
12 April
Losts has happened in the past few weeks.
Dumped the large painting, seems everyone hated it so I cut it up
1 painting in the first year MFA show at the Averitt.
I have 20 small canvases and have gone through 10 of them, some hits others not so hot.
I have finished the painting of Peeling the onion, "Brown man"
Amazing how we all have our blind spots we are so bombarded by so many images, sounds and smells that it all turns to mush at times, a neutral gray, a flat line, one has to wonder how much we miss of life.
Drew
I am learing much from the small group crits, It is enlightening to get the personal motivations and emotions from each artist.
I need to say WHY more,
Sometimes I feel that the pure motivation to create is being hammered by those who demand some deeper philosophical reasoning for creating, is not the pure joy enough, or the fun, or the poking fun at the clowns in
power.!
27 Feb
Working one large painting and 2 smaller ones today, Paint and charcoal on paper interesting to work that way.
Keeping the boarders open working inside the box, containing my subjects, holding them at bay.
as we are trapped inside our thoughts, tiring to communicate with the outside world.
A world looking more and more like the tower of Babble. Static with no meaning or reality.
Worked charcoal drawing into a painted canvas today, not happy with the results, the material was mushy and soft,
Last week in Feb, worked on large painting, seems no one likes that direction but then trying new things is not always acceptable. I can't listen to all the voices out there, no one can.
I started charcoal drawing on a painted surface (paper) will see how that goes.
The 4 head painting I will continue to work on, there is always more under the surface, always.
Print lab is taking more time and I am still behind I am not alone.
I will start 2 new paintings this coming week ( 5 March)
I plan also to continue working on the large one, there IS something there, I will dig it out.
Watching Amy and Kristen go through this past week does not make working on ones thesis a learning exercise but rather a form of ... well I better not say. I better start mine now
I will spend spring break catching up.
24 March 2012
Painting on small canvases, heads ,
OK yesterday I cut up the large blue head, it seemed to be hated by all, I don't think they really see it, I loved it so you might say I killed something I loved because others hated it, that does not show much courage on my part, what the hell does everybody want and should I care?
I will leave the image on my blog site, just to remind me I gave up on it.
I celebrate the differences in all our work, like points on a compass no mater what course you take it will take you somewhere, you can and will change course when you see the need to.
Drew ,over and out
12 April
Losts has happened in the past few weeks.
Dumped the large painting, seems everyone hated it so I cut it up
1 painting in the first year MFA show at the Averitt.
I have 20 small canvases and have gone through 10 of them, some hits others not so hot.
My goals for these last few weeks will be to finish several more small paintings and integrate the concept of delving behind the surface into my print work as I have in painting and drawing,
5 May 2012
This semester I have produced 17 new paintings, this body of work is starting to jell into linear pattern that gives give strength to my concept of the hidden fave, the psychological face.
A series has emerged , using the same size canvases has been helpful to connecting the thought from image to image.
I can also mix the process with slightly different painting techniques, heavy impasto with glazing etc.
I will continue with this series over the summer any am looking foreword to see where it leads me. Drew
10 May 2012
My web site address
http://drewcottril.com
Hey Drew, don't forget to go back to edit to post all the new information we mined today. Also, don't be afraid to post images that you think are relavant.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteDrew,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the crit on Tuesday. I appreciate being included.
A few points that we discussed: composition- I was drawn to the compositions not directly centered & not the non traditional portrait compositions. Your quick gestural drawings are the most exciting to me & carry the most emotion. We also talked about the backgrounds becoming important to the message. I'm really excited to see how you develop the series about "work" and how it effects us. I also want to encourage you to not get bogged down with constructive feedback. Be as open as possible, but stay true to what YOU are passionate about.
should have edited better- I AM drawn to the non traditional compositions! :) Sorry bad grammar!
DeleteHello Drew! Sorry it took so long :)
ReplyDeleteAbout the crit on Tuesday, here is a summary of my critique:
*I really really think you should paint on paper.
*We talked about working out better compositions and being careful that the face or the head is not "dead center". Not all the faces have to be zoomed in. There are other ways to achieve a more dynamic composition, and by dynamic I mean that the viewers eyes doesnt stay stuck in just one particular place. Activate all the places in your paper, or canvas, it is all important. (I hope that made sense)
*I said I would also like to see more value, maybe not in everyone, because like you said, not all of them might need them. Some drawings call for big jumps in value.
* I love your gestural work and your paintings have a really neat unique quality to them...which is why I think that by painting on paper that might fuse those two things together.
Thanks for sharing your work with us!
Alicia
a couple of artists you might like to look at- sarah awad (she has a nice method which combines solid painterly technique with some drawing) specifically the series War Games may be of special interest. Also, Kojo Griffin- the earlier work with the figures- just type them into google, Awad has a nice web site, Griffin doesnt but images are easy to find.
ReplyDeleteVery impressive how you are able to produce work. I enjoy the facial expressions as well as emotion you are showing in your work. Maybe you can go more expressive and even introduce other media... think of different surface that are out there. I think that you could even go zoom in closer and get to a deeper level of your subject. Also, I would start to introduce faces from real people.
ReplyDeleteHi! I really enjoyed your crit on tuesday :) I think your two painting of the faces, the one that is bright yellow especially, are my favorite. I liked what you did to the background of that one too. Last time I saw it, it was this bright yellow face, against this bright fusia-like color. Now it is a very neutral purple-blue-violet gray. Which is great against the bright yellow face. Make more of them. By that I don't mean photocopy them, but what Marc Mitchell said. Do more of them, and repeat what made the previous one successful. I would say to put off working on the bigger canvases, just for a little while longer. I just feel that right now, the smaller paintings are working better for you. That's how I had to start. I had to go back to smaller paintings, and I am now slowly growing into the larger ones. I feel it did me good, because I am getting better compositions which was a huge problem I had a hard time fixing when I was painting larger. oh! one more thing, I think it would also (maybe) be helpful if, like Max said, you start using real faces as references AND THEN start layering paint and distorting them or "uncover" them like you did on that one painting I like so much. Just a though ;)
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteLast week's crit:
ReplyDeleteYou're two unpeeled paintings were identified as your strongest works, why? Your use of complimentary colors was one reason. I personally find them unsettling (which is a good thing since they aren't supposed to be beautiful and relaxing), because they remind me of rotting, or puss-filled flesh. I recommended looking at Daniel Hesidence's "Chamber Street" paintings, since he's trying to portray something that isn't beautiful. I'd like to see more paintings moving in a similar direction as those two. The drawing of the whole humanity with splashes of blue was also very lovely, but did not necessarily work with the direction the rest of your work is pushing towards. Since these paintings aren't about the same person (right?), I'm with Max on wanting to see a variety of faces, with features pulled from reality. I also agreed with Elsie, that the painting with the bars didn't need them. Instead the image should be zoomed in to fill the canvas.
Thanks for your comments ,always helpful.
DeleteDrew
- I concur with everyone else. Of the pieces in the room, the unpeeled paintings are the most successful.
ReplyDelete- Your color usage was most effective
- The large piece with the bars effected me as such: the bars made me not care about the face because they were so visually obtrusive, but the bars were structurally weak which made me indifferent to them as well
- The pieces that show movement, through cropping and action within the picture were the most interesting to me
- I would like to see more artistic presence with the emotion (i.e., if the mouth shows anger the most, a cropped view of the mouth displaying rage could be more powerful than an entire face)
- I'm definitely drawn to your pieces in the hallway, because your mark-making is more apparent and you seem to be working in both additive and subtractive processes
- You are in figure drawing, you could work with the body as well
I keep posting updates, does any body really read these??
ReplyDeleteDrew
The terrorist as artist and Dear Professor Freud.
ReplyDeleteNothing new here, I really am amazed at how ignorant of history today’s so called reporters are, terror has always been used to do just that terrorize someone ,some town, some village, some nation.
The only thing that has changed is the media of communication, the cruelty of mankind has gone from heads on Pikes at the city gate to Video = no change.
We as a member of the Western Culture find such acts repulsive when the normal day in the non-Christian world find beheadings, death, starvation the norm.
I ask myself why should we the western world be spared from the acts of terrorists, we hide reality from our daily life.
How will hiding the ignorance and brutality of the third world, why would the so called free press hide such images.
The third world lives with this terror every day, we must learn now to also live with it, these radical nut jobs kill one of us with a .50 cent round out of a rifle and we kill one of them with a 500,000 dollar missile, its all nuts.
It is a religious war; the fires are fanned by the Imams supported by men who want no changes are more to the point those in power. No one in the west will say as much, political correctness reigns supreme.
This man refer to (his ignorance really shows here) that a popular protest eventual took us out of Vietnam, that is a lie, so many old tie dyed hippies think they ended that war, wrong, you can also note none of them will ever mention the millions who where murdered in Cambodia and Vietnam after the war along with millions who suffered in so called re-education camps, I have never seen a protest or a tear shed for these people, never!
Dear Professor Freud.
Both Freud and Einstein suffer from a similar blindness as the press in their case it was the ability to focus on specific problems in their field of endeavor.
Both men shut themselves out of the real (political) world to such an extent that it literately put them in isolation.
Ignorant of global politics and the actions of powerful men leaves them naïve, almost child like.
I find it almost comical that someone would think to ask these two to step out of there tiny worlds onto a world stage to offer actual logical solutions to mans never-ending illness’ of just being man.
The League of Nations was a disaster as is the UN.
Both are based on the assumption that man is good, man wants peace and nations will work together for the common good of mankind.
History has proven that both have failed miserably!
The real world would eat these two up and spit them out.
Just as we must learn to live with radical terrorist we must also learn that politicians play with power, power that affects our lives, this game is a thousand years old; as long as we exist this game will be played out.
Has mankind evolved? Looking at our history man has invented, man has adapted to its environment, but man has something deep in us that has only taken a few steps out of the cave and can return to us in an instant to savagery. Our unseen sickness, WAR sucks, unfortunately it is a fact of live for some, the few thank God.
So we attempt to live as civilized beasts in Western society while our adversaries in the third world live out their blood lust openly every day on video.
Other than physically leaving society we must play our part and focus on our love, our art, tell our truth as best we can, scream it, paint it, for we will never control it.
Drew